


Hold Me While You Wait

by RattlerOfTheStars



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Eventual Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Hermione Granger & Draco Malfoy Friendship, More tags to be added, Slow Updates, dramione - Freeform, endgame dramione - Freeform, like very slow updates, was a oneshot but may become chaptered
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:34:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24444406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RattlerOfTheStars/pseuds/RattlerOfTheStars
Summary: That was how it went. Every day they would greet each other in the common room they shared, as Head Boy and Girl, with nothing but the minimal level of civility. It was fine by him.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 4
Kudos: 66





	Hold Me While You Wait

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This is my first fanfic so sorry if it's terrible. I know that this is the name of a song but no, this is not a songfic. Cross-posted on Fanfiction.net. Not that you have to, but it would be great if you left a comment because I'd love to see what you think! Feel free to point out any mistakes, my only beta was the free version of Grammarly so...
> 
> ~ RattlerOfTheStars

"Granger."

"Malfoy."

That was how it went. Every day they would greet each other in the common room they shared, as Head Boy and Girl, with nothing but the minimal level of civility.

It was fine by him.

Granger, as much as he hated to admit it, was actually a good person to share the Heads' common room and adjoining quarters. She rarely invited people in, letting her personal drama unfold in the Gryffindor common room instead. And she didn't try to make small talk with him. That was good. Right?

Maybe he wouldn't mind her company if he actually knew what it was like, but he too avoided conversation. It was fine by her.

_I think._

God, when did he start caring about what Granger thought? Not today, or ever.

He broke out of his musings at the sound of muffled sobbing. He was going to get up to find the source of the noise, just to make it stop of course, before he realised it was Granger. He sank back down onto the overstuffed couch. It wasn't like he was going to her aid. He couldn't have her thinking he was going soft.

There! Again with worrying about what she thought.

He couldn't have _anyone_ thinking he was going soft.

_Better._

He wasn't sure how long he had been sitting on the couch, staring into space and procrastinating about doing the 18-inch essay Mcgonagall had set them, but it was soon dark and the incessant sobbing had quietened but not stopped. He sighed. It wouldn't hurt to stop by her room on his way to his own.

Just to see if she had finished her Transfiguration essay yet.

Who was he kidding? Of course she had.

Even so, he hadn't managed to reason himself out of entering her room before he had already pushed it halfway open, his hands moving almost of their own accord.

"Granger?", he called softly into the room, probably more softly than he had ever spoken to her.

"Go away.", came the muffled reply from under a bundle of bedsheets.

"Granger,", he began, cutting off as her messy hair became visible and bloodshot eyes peeked over the blankets to glare at him. "What's wrong with you?"

He edged into the room, leaving the door ajar behind him.

"What's it to you?"

"You're making a noise."

Her glare was almost enough to make him take it back. Almost.

"If all you've come to do is bother me, then go away."

"Now if I was here to bother you, do you think I would do what you wanted?"

She huffed at that and pushed aside the sheets to sit up beside him.

"What do you want you prat?", she said in a resigned tone.

"Like I said,", he repeated. "What's wrong with you Granger?"

She was silent for a long time. They sat beside each other like that, neither one talking, until finally she threw her hands in the air with a frustrated groan.

"It's Ronald."

He looked up in shock at that. Ron Weasley had seemed nothing if not smitten with Hermione. What could he have done to make her so upset?

_I always wanted an excuse to give him a good beating._

He had to shake himself. For what? For upsetting that mud… that muggleborn? His father might even have given the 'blood traitor' a pat on the back for that.

Hermione had caught sight of his surprised expression and took it as a cue to explain.

…

She had had it. She couldn't take it anymore. She had given heart away to someone who didn't seem to want it. He had crushed her heart so many times and she had finally lashed back.

She didn't cry when she saw Lavender sitting on her so-called boyfriend's lap again. When she saw his head dip down so that his lips could reach hers.

She didn't cry when she confronted him. When he didn't even have the good grace to look ashamed. When he tried to defend himself.

"Oh, come on Hermione."

"It's just a little fun."

"Don't be so uptight."

"Loosen up a little."

"God, you're so boring."

"I didn't think you would be the jealous type."

"Why did I even date you in the first place?"

She didn't even cry at the pitying eyes of Harry. Or Ginny. Or Neville. When she fled the Gryffindor common room, Ron's calls falling on deaf ears. Too little, too late.

But when she reached her room, she cried.

And when the tall, blond boy came and sat on her bed, she sobbed as she told him what had happened, her tears soaking through the fabric on his shoulder. She dared not look up lest she saw the disgusted look that was bound to be on his face.

What she didn't expect was for a hand to come to rest on the small of her back.

"It's alright Hermione.", he said quietly.

Hermione.

He called me Hermione.

She pushed down the fluttery feeling his words had caused and snapped at him angrily.

"And how, exactly, is it alright?"

"He's just one person. Or he and Lavender will make two. Everyone else will be on your side."

She decided not to push her luck by asking if that meant him too.

"He's not worth such a fuss. If he wants some other girl, he can have her. It's Lavender's loss, really, not yours. Besides, you could do much better. You're way too good for him."

The room was silent.

…

Draco trudged down the staircase towards the common room. He was still rubbing his eyes sleepily as the events of the previous night caught up to him. His eyes widened.

He had blushed profusely after his comment, unable to speak to take it back, as Hermione stared at him, eyes wide.

"I should go.", he managed to mutter before walking to the door as fast as he could and trying to avoid eye contact.

He paused at the door for enough time for Hermione to jump up and give him a tight hug.

"That was… a really nice thing to say Malfoy."

He quickly crossed the landing, making it to the sanctuary of his own bedroom door.

"It's Draco.", he said quietly, barely glancing over his shoulder before shutting the door.

...

Morning came with a grey sky and little ceremony.

He looked up to see a new note on the notice board on a small piece of paper. It read just two words in a neat, cursive font.

_Thank you._

He pulled the piece of paper off the board, holding it in his right hand.

He had been right last night. She was too good for him. And she was smart and pretty and really sweet. The kind of girl that wouldn't look twice at a guy like him.

_Unless…_

A wicked smile crept onto his face.

Weasley had no right to act the way he did.

"Hey Hermione!", he called up the winding staircase when he heard a bedroom door open. "How do you say we make Weasley jealous?"

He didn't miss the wicked smile on her face to mirror his own as she came down the stairs.


End file.
